Federer beats Djokovic to set up Monte Carlo final against Wawrinka

An all-Swiss final will be played at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters 2014 as fourth seed Roger Federer put in a fine performance to defeat defending champion Novak Djokovic in straight sets and extend the head-to-head lead to 18-16. Although Sunday’s title clash against his doubles partner Stan Wawrinka will be the fourth for the Swiss Maestro in Monte Carlo, both of the athletes will be bidding for their debut crown at the ATP World Tour 1000 tournament.

Nothing could separate the arch-rivals in the early stages of the encounter. The opener progressed with serve by 4-4, yet Roger’s initial break point in the ninth game came as an announcement of a captivating finish of the set. He ventured an all-or-nothing attack in the subsequent rally, but to no avail and Nole eventually held the serve. Djokovic tried to reply in the same fashion and he was suddenly in possession of a double set point some moments later, but squandered the opportunity as FedEx pulled off a couple of good serves before winning a spectacular point at the net which helped him to stay in the contest. It looked like the second-seeded Serb would cruise through the eleventh game, yet Federer returned from 40-0* and capitalized on several of the opponent’s errors to get his nose in front.

A one-sided second set followed as Novak – who seemed to have struggled with a right wrist injury throughout the clash – could not threaten the Swiss who began to stretch away. He snatched two consecutive breaks to create a 5-1 advantage and served out the match in first attempt. Federer landed his spot in tomorrow’s finals by celebrating a 7-5, 6-2 victory after seventy-five minutes of tennis at the Court Central. He won 83% of first serve rallies and was successful in 13 of 14 trips to the net.

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